Opinion | Sanatan Dharma Remark: DMK’s Brazen Hindu Hatred May Cost I.N.D.I.A Parties the 2024 Elections

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) illustrious history of hating on Hindus and Sanatan Dharma is hardly a secret. For decades, under the garb of Dravidianism, this party has openly and unapologetically spewed vicious hate against India’s largest religious community.

In what comes as perhaps the pinnacle of the DMK’s disdain for Hinduism is this statement of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin’s son: “There are some things which we have to eradicate and we can’t merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue fever, malaria, corona, all these are things which we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam is also like this. Eradicating, not opposing, Sanatanam should be our first task.”

Now imagine being in an alliance where the son of a sitting Chief Minister calls for the eradication of Sanatan Dharma, therefore effectively Indian civilisation, months before an election where you are supposed to defeat a party like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is definitely not good for the alliance. Under no circumstances will voters choose people who have nothing but utter disdain for Hindus and Indian civilisation. Or perhaps, is the alliance in question banking on the anti-Hindu sentiment prevalent in certain pockets of the country?

The DMK has just made a big blunder, one which will cost its alliance partners too. Udhayanidhi Stalin’s statement is also a reflection of how, in its bid to defeat the BJP, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) alliance has decided that hating on Hindus, their beliefs and calling for their eradication is the only way forward.

Mind you, this comes at a time when many parties of this alliance believe that Hindu radicalism is on the rise. These same parties accuse the BJP of intolerance and mistreating minorities, especially Muslims. If “Hindu extremism” is indeed a prevalent phenomenon, one wonders how top DMK leaders are comfortable issuing such brazen statements. Should they not fear a massive pushback? The fact is the DMK – and all parties that fail to call out Udhayanidhi’s remarks — are guilty of seeing Hindus being maligned, and their civilisation being disrespected. In fact, this is not just mere disrespect. Udhayanidhi actually wants the eradication of Sanatan Dharma, and as a direct consequence, Hindus.

What makes this entire issue more problematic is the silence of DMK’s partners in the so-called I.N.D.I.A alliance. This is an alliance which likes to be referred to as “INDIA”, but one which strangely does not have a problem providing a platform to anti-Hindu leaders and parties.

Ask yourself this question: What would an India without Hindus and Sanatan Dharma look like? Suffice to say that India, as we know it, will cease to exist. If I.N.D.I.A parties actually represented the idea of India, they would not just distance themselves from the DMK, but would go a step further in kicking the party out of their alliance. Instead, what is being seen is that the DMK’s political partners from across the country are either silent on Udhayanidhi’s brazen Hinduphobia, or are openly defending and contextualising his statement.

The DMK, on its part, is doubling down on Udhayanidhi’s remarks. The DMK is a powerful political force in Tamil Nadu – one which cannot be alienated, much less dumped. The Congress on its own stands no chance of winning seats from Tamil Nadu in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. It must rely entirely on the DMK in this part of the country. This is why you will not see the Congress standing up for Hindus’ basic rights – of living freely and practising their faith without fear of being eradicated.

The DMK has been naturally progressing towards an era where it goes from hating just on Brahmins to the entire Hindu civilisation now. What started as anti-Brahminism and subtle anti-Hindu propaganda went on to become an attack on Hindutva. This then crystallised into more open hatred for Hinduism itself. Now, borderline genocidal calls against Hindus and their faith are being made.

The DMK is not new to this game of hatred. Earlier, DMK’s MLA from Mannargudi TRB Rajaa had posted on X, previously Twitter, an image of freedom fighter Veer Savarkar on a black bird hitting Hindu god Vishnu while riding a Garuda. He subsequently deleted the post. Rajaa is also known for referring to those who support the BJP and oppose the DMK as “gomiyum gang”, which is essentially a slur used against Hindus to depict them as cow urine drinkers. On umpteen occasions, this man has also spewed venom against North Indians. Has the DMK acted against him? Take a guess.

Another senior leader in the Stalin-led DMK government, A Raja found himself at the centre of controversy last year when he said that Shudras are children of prostitutes and they will remain so as long as they practice Hinduism. But all of this really fades in comparison to what the father of Dravidian ideology is known to have done. From burning portraits of Shri Ram to desecrating Shri Ganesh idols, Periyar is said to have participated in it all.

The DMK will not abandon its anti-Hindu mindset. The question is – Have I.N.D.I.A alliance parties made up their mind and decided that they will share the same platform with a party that regularly disparages Hindus, their beliefs and calls for the eradication of Sanatan Dharma from the face of the planet? The same Sanatan Dharma which has kept Bharat alive as a civilisation for millennia, by the way.

With barely months left for the Lok Sabha polls, DMK has shot the I.N.D.I.A alliance in its feet. If this alliance thinks that abusing and calling for the extermination of India’s majority community will help it win an election against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP machinery, then it is perhaps more foolish and electorally illiterate than many of us thought. The BJP is going to make a feast out of Udhayanidhi’s remarks, and can we really blame the party when the opponents issue such politically suicidal statements just months before a make-or-break national election?

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.